Mohammed Mahbubul Kabir
June 2009 Master Thesis
Master of Philosophy in Indigenous Studies
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø, Norway
“Let’s Go Back to Go Forward”
History and Practice of Schooling in the Indigenous
Communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
‘‘Let’s Go Back to Go Forward’’
History and Practice of Schooling in the Indigenous Communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh
Thesis submitted by:
Mohammed Mahbubul Kabir
For the Degree of Master of Philosophy in Indigenous Studies Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tromsø, Norway June 2009
Supervised by: Prof. Bjørg Evjen, PhD.
Abstract
This research deals with the history of education for the indigenous peoples in Chittagong Hills Tracts (CHT) Bangladesh who, like many places under postcolonial nation states, have no constitutional recognition, nor do their languages have a place in the state education system. Comprising data from literature and empirical study in CHT and underpinned on a conceptual framework on indigenous peoples’ education stages within state system in the global perspective, it analyzes in-depth on how the formal education for the indigenous peoples in CHT was introduced, evolved and came up to the current practices. From a wider angle, it focuses on how education originally intended to ‘civilize’ indigenous peoples subsequently, in post colonial era, with some change, still bears that colonial legacy which is heavily influenced by hegemony of ‘progress’ and ‘modernism’ (anti-traditionalism) and serves to the non-indigenous dominant group interests. Thus the government suggested Bengali-based monolingual education practice which has been ongoing since the beginning of the nation-state for citizens irrespective of ethnic and lingual background, as this research argued, is a silent policy of assimilation for the indigenous peoples. However, after decades of its existence in the region the monolingual paradigm appears to be shaken by the ethno-
political struggle locally and endangered language survival movements nationally and internationally. This process is beginning evidenced by the presence of NGO-based schools, which are in a process to off-shooting mother-tongue based schooling for the indigenous children in the territory. By analyzing this historical development related to the forces at global, national and local level, the study is an attempt to define the changes within the conceptual framework and explain how changes have happened and the prospect for future change.
Dedicated to the memory of my father
Md. Hatem Ali Miah (1939-2008)
He died from a heart attack while I was away on my fieldwork for this thesis. He was very happy to see me enrolled in this Master Programme. He would have been very happy to have seen me successfully complete my master.
Foreword
‘‘Let’s Go Back to Go Forward’’ is an outcome of research on the history of indigenous peoples elementary schooling in Bangladesh through qualitative approach1 that incorporated insights from indigenous paradigm. In methodological jargon, one could articulate, I agree to some extent, that the indigenous methodology is a part, generated as complimentary or even extended or revised version of the existing qualitative approach. Insights that I got from the
‘indigenous paradigm’ suggest that researchers’ understanding with the notion of subjectivity as well as sensitized outlook towards the subject(s) -the indigenous people or issues relation indigenous peoples. I want to emphasize that the idea of the paradigm suggests doing research not only on them but also for them.
From the start of the research to the end of writing of findings, not surprisingly it was heavily a work of ‘chance and choice’. Qualitative research is an ongoing dialogue between the researcher and the reality in the field s/he encounters.
The first part of the research is more historical and describes and analyzes the beginning and evolvement of formal schooling in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) as far as the medium of instruction for the indigenous peoples is concerned. This part has been analyzed with the overall social and political growth surroundings the region. Next part of the study explores current practices of schooling and medium of instruction with data collected from the study area in CHT from a social anthropological point of view.
My first interest in this research topic of indigenous peoples’ education in Bangladesh arose through my professional background as researcher at BRAC, Bangladesh.
I have used the terms ‘schooling’ to mean education especially in pre-primary and primary stages (below grade I to grade V, target age group 4/5-10/11 years). By ‘pupil’ I mean learners enrolled in those lower grades of the education system. Although there are several related terms like bi-lingual, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, bilingual multicultural etc.
indicate use of mother-tongue in schooling, I prefer to use mother-tongue based education (MTE) through-out this thesis.
Tromsø June 14, 2009 Mohammed Mahbubuul Kabir
1 Qualitative research as an approach has been standing as a counter paradigm of so called positivism, the
philosophical standing of quantitative research (Holliday 2002).
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to many institutions and persons who have helped making this dream project come true. First and foremost, thanks to the Centre for Sami Studies, University of Tromsø for hosting me in this international Master programme and provide the field work support. My gratitude goes to the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (lannekassen) as well for
supporting me with a scholarship for this study. A lot of thank to BRAC for giving me the 2 years leave and a place to stay during my field work.
I am deeply indebted to my supervisor Prof. Bjørg Evjen for her the scholarly support and sincere guidance from the beginning to the end of this study. The way she orient me with the new horizon of perspectives and knowledge will be my lifelong asset. I am also indebted to Dr. Johnny-Leo L. Jernsletten, who helped me in different ways by offering fruitful guidance in ‘seminar presentation’. Here, including all my teachers in different courses from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Law and Faculty of History, I would also like to thank Prof. Tone Blebie who shared her own experience of working with the indigenous peoples in North West part of Bangladesh that gave me many insights.
Along with others I am very much particularly indebted to Hildegunn Bruland, Per Klemetsen Hætta, Bjørn Hatteng at the Centre for Sami Studies for providing academic and non-academic support over the years. Thanks are due to my proof reader Mr Scott D. Meyer who did his work surprisingly fast considering my deadline. I also acknowledge My heartiest thanks also goes to international student councilor Line Vråberg who offered me so many warm welcomes in so many occasions in all my difficulty. Thanks to international students’
advisers. Ingvild Svestad,. Sverre Tvinnereim and Ute Vogel for all their support in various occasions.
My classmates Abiyot, Teboho, Linda, Kristine, Anne Chathrine, Rie, Velina and Evelyn have left me with memories for life. Tokie and Tana, the two kids of my reading room mate Kristine gave some pleasant and friendly gestures in each contact (they speak in a language I am not familiar with, but I could read their body language). Here, I am also thankful to the national and international students who in various ways helped me during my one year involvement in International Students’ Union (ISU) of Norway. I especially want to thank my friends Irina Demina, Sabine Kaiser, Shang Ao, Shen Zhang, Wang Shou, Sanjoy Dakhal and Chihoro Yabe who made my stay in this small beautiful island more enjoyable in
various events. Thanks to the Bangladeshi community in Tromsø for many nice social gatherings.
Here, I give a special thanks to my colleagues at Research and Evaluation Division (RED) of BRAC who gave several valuable suggestions and comment on a presentation of proposal of this study just before my field work. I acknowledge my colleagues in the
Educational Research Unit at RED for different occasions. I am nonetheless indebted to Nazia Sharmin, for colleting and sending me many important papers and information related with my thesis. I thank Abdul Mannan Miah for forwarding the letters which were sent to RED address during my stay abroad. I am thankful to Mr Subroto Khisa and Ms. Marufa Mazhar at the BRAC Education Programme (BEP) for all their helps.
I am grateful to the informants for giving me time to collect my data. Here, I thank my friend ATM Al-Fattah who gave me contacts in my field area. I am grateful to Pulak Baron Chakma, Dr. Sudhin Kumar Chakma for valuable information and support during the field work. I am indebted to Mr Junan Chakma, Ms Trisna Dewan and Bikram Kisore Khisa, Jagoron Chakma, Mathura Bikash Tripura for their kind helps in my data collection. I thank my cook in the field Protula Chkama.
I am thankful to my former teachers at the University of Dhaka S. Aminul Islam, Dr H. K. Arefeen and Dr. A. I. Mahbub Uddin Ahmed for their helps. At last, but not least I give thanks my elder brother Md. Hedayet Kabir and my uncle Sabbir Ahamed for taking care they of my sick mother during my 2 years of absence from home.
List of Acronyms and Definition of Local Terms Acronyms
ADB Asian Development Bank
BRAC Building Resources Across Communities
CB Caritas Bangladesh
CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts
DPE Directorate of Primary Education
EIC Education for Indigenous Children
ELC Essential Learning Continuum
HDC Hill Drastic Council
PCJSS (shortly PSS) Parbotta Chattogram Jana Shonhoti Somiti
MTE Mother-tongue based Education
NCTB National Curriculum and Textbook Board
RED Research and Evaluation Division
RDC Research and Development Collective
UNECEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UN United Nations
ZKS Zabarang Kalyan Samity
Definition of Local Terms Adivasi Indigenous
Bawm Name of an indigenous group in CHT Chak Name of an indigenous group in CHT Chakma Name of an indigenous group in CHT
Garo Name of an indigenous group (also know as Mandi) Jhum/Jhoom Slash and burn agriculture
Jungly People live in jungle, used to mean so called ‘uncivilized’ people Jumma Peoples cultivating Jhum
Kyong Temple-based schooling
Khumi Name of an indigenous group in CHT Lusai Name of an indigenous group in CHT
Madrassa Maddrassa is religious school, particularly for Muslim children Mro Name of an indigenous group in CHT
Oraon Name of an indigenous group in North-West Bangladesh Para A small part of a village
Para kendros UNECEF supported pre-schooling centre Pahari Peoples live in the hill
Shishu Shreni Pri-primary
Sadri Language of Oraon indigenous group Rakhain Name of an indigenous group in CHT Tanghangya Name of an indigenous group in CHT Vasa Andolon Language Movement
Upazati Sub-nation A-solay in fact
Contents
Abstract... 2
Foreword... 4
Acknowledgement ... 5
List of Acronyms and Definition of Local Terms ... 7
Acronyms ... 7
Definition of Local Terms ... 7
Chapter 1. Introduction... 12
1.2 Nation-state, assimilation policy, education of indigenous peoples: Literature Review ... 19
1.3 Purpose of the research: Scrutinize the medium of instruction in schooling... 25
1.4 Research questions: Language in schooling... 26
1.5 Methodology : A qualitative slot with indigenous paradigm ... 26
1.5.1 Methods of data collection ... 28
1.5.2 Time and places: The important tasks ... 29
1.5.3 Overcoming objectivity: The way I was looking for data ... 30
1.6 Study Location: Dhighinala, Khagrachari, CHT... 31
1.7 Recollecting myself in this research: Confession to the readership ... 32
1.8 Analytical structure ... 34
1.9 Limitation of the study ... 36
1.10 Outline of chapters: Structure of the thesis ... 37
Chapter 2 From ‘Primitivism’ to ‘Civilization’: Schooling in the British and Pakistani Era 1757-1970... 38
2.1 Perspective on colonization ... 39
2.2 CHT under British colony and Pakistan state ... 39
2.3 Schooling in CHT at pre-Bangladesh period... 41
2.3.1 Pre-British (ancient- 1760): Schooling in Vihara and Pathshala ... 41
2.3.2 British colonial period (1761-1947): Beginning of formal schooling ... 42
2.3.3 Pakistan period (1947-1971): Expansion of modern schooling... 44
2.4 An analysis on the notion, practice and consequence of formal education ... 45
Chapter 3: Nationalism and Monolingualism: Bangladesh Era from 1970s-1990s... 49
3.2 Matrix Language: Domination discourse of a nation state ... 51
3. 3 Bengali language and embryonic nationalism: where are ‘others’ in the new state? ... 52
3.4 Matrix language: Tool of silencing other voices ... 54
3.5 Monolingual schooling challenged: global, national and local forces... 55
3.6 Monolingualism in schooling: Pseudo assimilation and the resistance ... 57
Chapter 4. Towards Mother-Tongue based Schooling: A Paradigm Shift (2000s - Present) ... 59
4.1 Various streams with cultural unimportance: Schooling for indigenous children in CHT... 60
4.2 Dominant language based schooling: Matrix of exclusions ... 62
4.3 Changed position in the government’s outlook: Where is the mother-tongue in the classroom?... 66
4.4 Negotiating with the national policy and local reality: A sloth process ... 67
4.5 Case of a complementary initiative: A local attempt for language survival... 68
4.6 Towards the mother tongue education: NGO initiatives ... 69
4.7 Changing outlook and limited initiative: Paradigm shifting? ... 71
5. Mother-tongue based Education (MTE): Perceptions and Practices in CHT ... 71
5.1 Ensuring MTE: Global debate and local reality for indigenous pupils... 73
5.2 Relevance of competency primary schooling for indigenous children of CHT... 75
5. 3 Practice of MTE in Khagrachari: Comparative Scrutiny in two cases ... 76
5.4 Challenges for MT Education in Bangladesh ... 80
5.4.1 Relation between the organizations: lack of coordination... 81
5.4. 2Popular perception. ... 81
5.4.3 Government recognition and patronization: lack of fresh understanding... 81
5.4.4 Mainstream hegemony: Within and outside of the classroom... 82
5.5 Perception of the stakeholders on the MTE ... 82
5.5.1 The Chittagong Hill District Council, Khagrachari: Hazed with ‘development’ ... 82
5.5.2 Local education office: prescribed for ‘assimilation is the way’... 84
5.5.3 Community people: Digesting the new ideas ... 85
5.5.4 Local initiator: vibrant and network ... 85
5.5.5 MLE school teachers: Excited and engaged in the task... 86
5.5.6 Bengali school teacher: Concerned with practicability ... 86
5.5.7Local traditional king: Let’s hope for the best ... 87
5.6 Integration or segregation? : MTE and the future of the indigenous peoples in CHT ... 88
6. Discussion and Conclusion: ‘‘Going Back to Go Forward’’ ... 90
References... 97
Appendix A: Photos of Chakma peoples in different age and gender in study area ... 105 Appendix B: Correspondence between conceptual framework and observed circumstances... 106 Appendix C: The 53 terminal competencies (English Version) for the primary pupils ... 107
The Leader
Gilbert Perez, November 1932
They want us to go to school And to turn the pages of books…
Why learn the language of books When the forest speaks to you?
One cannot eat books
And pens and pencils are poor weapons To kill the deer of the mountains
And the grunting boar.
Books, pencils and the black Speaking walls
Only weaken the hand that pulls the bow;
Had I read the language Of the trail more
And of the talking leaves less, The twang of my bow
Would not have been
Only an echo in the thickets, And I –
But a ghost in the forests Of my fathers.
Chapter 1. Introduction
The formation of the nation-state led to the denial of diversity of cultures and value systems of peoples and the creation of a single standardized pattern.
M.N. Karna (2000) Language, Religion and National Identity
It is now the social scientist's foremost political and intellectual task - for here the two coincide - to make clear the elements of contemporary uneasiness and
indifference.
C. Wright Mills (1959) The Sociological Imagination
There has been a common trend among the different nation-states that through ‘nationalism project’, in certain stages of their development, they try to assimilate peoples who differ from its mainstream population in terms of ethnicity and language (Minde 2003, Dimitrove 2000, Marr 2000). The imposition of dominant language(s) as compulsory and/or only medium of instruction in school is the most common weapon used for this. Applying assimilation policy on the indigenous peoples through boarding schooling is well recognized phenomenon in the history of Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Nordic countries (Trafzer et.al. 2006, Smith 2009). It is, however, assimilation by requiring a compulsory medium of instruction that is a less focused on by researchers in many countries especially in Asia. Thus, how the schooling process with its medium of instruction went through the indigenous communities in an Asian country, where concept of ‘indignity’ is difficult to establish and where governments deny presence of any ‘indigenous peoples’ needs to be scrutinized. Besides, in a developing society where ethnic minority indigenous peoples are all the more marginalized and the claim of indigenous rights itself is heavily disputed, more research attention is demanded. Thus, this study aims to investigate the history and current practice of elementary schooling focusing on the medium of instruction in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), an area where most of the
(claimed) indigenous peoples of Bangladesh reside.
1.1 Conceptualizing indigenous peoples in the Bangladesh context
Before going any further, as a point of departure, the primary question on the meaning of indigenous people, the controversy it generated and presumably who they are in context of Bangladesh need to be dealt with. The term ‘indigenous’ is derived from Latin word indigen- a (a native), late Latin form indigen-us (born in a country) meaning ‘born or produced
naturally in a land or region; native or belonging naturally to (the soil, region, etc.)’. It is used
primarily for aboriginal inhabitants or natural products (Oxford English Dictionary 1989).
Broadly, Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology defined ‘indigenous peoples’ as:
‘‘... peoples who were present in a given territory before the arrival of larger, usually
European population groups’’ (Barnard and Spencer 2002: 609). An anthropologist Saugestad noted, ‘‘[p]artly the ambiguity is on the lexical level: the term ‘indigenous’ is frequently used as an adjective to mean ‘local’, ‘native’ and ‘non-European’’’ (Saugestad 2001: 302). In the contemporary usage, however, ‘indigenous people, refers to those ‘‘…societies encapsulated in a larger nation-state whose basic form of social organization was originally at the band, village, tribal, or ethnic minority level’’ (Appell 2002: 419). Indicating its contemporarily meaning, Professor James Anaya said, ‘‘[t]oday the term indigenous refers broadly to living descendents of pre-invasion inhabitants of the lands now dominated by others’’ (Anaya 2004:
3). From these perspectives, the term generally indicates peoples who inhabited a land before it was invaded by colonial or like power and who are currently governed by others as its successors. However, beyond its lexical or encyclopaedic meanings, the concept ‘indigenous’
is increasingly popular but continually debated both on international and national levels. In fact, the social, political, and legal definitions of the term are much more ambiguous and controversial as the term has been taken up by a range of disenfranchised groups to define and promote their movements (Hodgson 2002) for rights.
As a sociological category, anthropologist Saugestad inferred, the concept of
‘indigenous’ is a subject to various definitions (Saugestad 2001), the key controversies, however, exists as Adam Kuper, an anthropologist, identified that even in European context
‘‘the difficulty of defining and identify ‘indigenous people’’’ as ‘‘the history of all European countries is a history of successive migrations’’ (Kuper 2003: 390). As one of the recognized critics, Kuper regards present indigenous right movement as a pseudo claim of aboriginality and voided the rights and privilege that it entails. In an article titled ‘The idea of Indigenous People’ Beteille also criticized the concept and said that it ‘‘…not only breeds intellectual confusion, but …also provides ideological ammunition to those who would re-orient the world according to the claim of blood and soil’’ (Beteille 1998:191 cf. Saugestad 2001:303).
Thus, although the core meaning is ingrained in the term ‘indigenous’, a common agreement on it is hard to achieve.
In the middle of many criticisms and controversies on the concept, a working definition was developed by Mr. José Martínez Cobo, Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities at the United Nations, in his
famous work ‘Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations’ which he finished between 1981 and 1984. He defined:
‘‘Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their
territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their
ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems’’ (Martínez Cobo 1986, para 379).
This definition is now used widely and has stood the test of time remarkably well. However, from another angle, ‘‘…the key conceptual debate concerned the attempt to clarify an ambiguous relationship between the sovereign state and a special type of traditional community, that does not in itself constitute a political entity’’ (Saugestad 2001:305) still exists. In other words, as a concept, although it indicates peoples characterized by
autonomous identity and ethnic differences, the question of their position in terms of
demands of rights in compared to dominant and other non-dominant groups in the structure is continually pondered. To escape from this dilemma, Saugestad suggested:
‘‘… indigenous, like ethnic, is a relational term. A group is only indigenous in
relation to another, encompassing group, and thus the meaning depends on the historical context. Moreover, the relationship between a state and as indigenous minority is one of unequal distribution of power. The concept is coined to describe this inequality. It is also designed as a tool to change this inequality (Saugestad 2001:308).
One of the early addresses of the inequality issues could be traced back to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in their international conventions known as ILO Convention No.
107 and ILO convention No. 169. For a long time, these two conventions have been the safeguard of indigenous peoples’ rights with some limits. The recent development of indigenous movement especially at the international level made it possible to draw a lot of attention to their rights. With the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was adapted by the General Assembly on Thursday September 13, 2007, a firm basis has been paved for claiming rights within the state structure. Although a majority of 144 states voted in favour, 4 states (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States)
voted against and 11 states (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burundi, Colombia, Georgia, Kenya, Nigeria, Russian Federation, Samoa and Ukraine) abstained from the process of voting in the adaption of the declaration. This position of states in voting on the declaration is just a proxy of the existing controversy on not only the concept of indigenous but the whole discourse.
Against the controversy over the concept, a professor of law Benedict Kingsbury suggested that the term may have a scope for an ongoing connotation that would keep it open for construction of different streams of thoughts. He also maintained that it is impossible at present to formulate a single globally viable definition that is workable and not grossly under- or over inclusive. Kingsbury argues that it would be impossible or misleading to seek to identify the prior occupants of countries and regions with such long and intricate histories of influx, movement and melding (Kingsbury 1998). Hence, although the concept of ‘indigenous peoples’ is fundamentally compound and its validity is very hard to ascertain in many states, it is a tool for peoples who lost their autonomy under colonialism or similar imposition and are struggling against the domination and marginalization, claiming their rights in the state structure.
As elsewhere, as a concept ‘indigenous peoples’ is and has been contested and is
vacillating in Bangladesh too. Like many other Asian countries2, the Bangladesh government never accepts any indigenous peoples within the border3. With India and Myanmar,
Bangladesh argued and stressed that ‘‘‘…indigenous peoples’ are descendents of the original inhabitants who have suffered from conquest or invasion from outside’’ (Kingsbury 1998:
434). Similar to India, however, people who have long been denoted as Tribe4 and Adivasi5 has contemporarily been specified, both within and outside of the people concerned, as indigenous peoples in Bangladesh. Other words like Upajati, Tribal people, Pahari, Jumma, ethnic, ethnic minority are also used to specify the same in Bangladesh.
The current denial position of Bangladesh towards indigenous issues is not new, but a trend that could be traced back in the government’s position in not ratifying and/or abstaining from different international law instruments initiated towards the protection of rights of indigenous peoples. It should be remarked that Bangladesh ratified ILO convention 107 as
2 Kingsbury noted that although the attitudes of governments in Asia on the application of the concept of
‘indigenous peoples’ differ considerably, it is strongly opposed by China, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar and (for the most part) of Indonesia (Kingsbury 1998: 417).
3 Still now there is no official recognition of the ‘indigenous people’ in the country.
4 The English term ‘tribe’ is used officially (i.e., statistics) in Bangladesh to mean Upajati in Bengali.
5 Note that the term ‘adivasi’, which is rooted in Sanskrit, is pronounced as ‘adibasi’ in Bengali.
the convention used both terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘tribe’ and viewed that indigenous and tribal populations are identified not only as distinct social groups but whose ‘‘…conditions of life ought to be ameliorated to promote their assimilation into the ambient population, leading eventually to national integration (Kingsbury 1998). Not surprisingly, this view of the government seems to be perpetuating towards the ‘tribal’ people of the country who are now demanding an indigenous status.
The existing view of the government to assimilate and integrate ‘tribal’ population is evident from the position in the ILO Convention No. 169 which Bangladesh did not ratify.
Among others, at least one of the statements in article 7.1 of the convention presumably contradicted the motto and interest of the state where it is stated that indigenous and tribal population ‘‘…shall have the right to decide their own priorities for the process of
development as it affects their lives, beliefs, institutions and spiritual well-being and the lands they occupy or otherwise use, and to exercise control, to the extent possible, over their own economic, social and cultural development’’ (ILO 1989) 6. Thus refereeing the incongruence with the national interest, at the voting session of the convention Bangladesh government representative Mr. Hossain said, ‘‘ My Government maintains that Convention No. 107 preserve …delicate balance between national interests and international responsibility. In the opinion of Bangladesh, …essential balance has not been adequately ensured in the new Convention…’’(International Labour Office 1990: 32/11). Subsequently in 1993, at the Permanent Forum on the Indigenous Issues at UN, Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations at the Second Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, New York 21 May 2003, clearly said, ‘‘[i]ndigenous peoples by definition are original inhabitants of any given territory or country. While ethnic minorities in Bangladesh may not fit this definition, the government has always been sensitive to their problems, according them priority attention’’ (Statement by Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury May 2003)7. The recent position of the Bangladesh state can be seen from its abstention on the United Nation Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was adapted in the General Assembly in the sixty-first session on the 13th September 2007. This reflects that Bangladesh over the years has not changed its view towards the indigenous (tribal) issues from what once the country held by ratifying the ILO Convention No. 107. In fact, as it appears, the government view of assimilating and
6 http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/indigenous.htm
7 http://www.un.int/bangladesh/statements/57/indigen.htm
integrating ‘tribal people’ in the mainstream population people has still been prevailing which refutes the concept of ‘indigenous peoples’ and helps the state ignore the demands of
indigenous peoples.
Throughout the world, indigenous movements work more like a dialogue and negotiation between the state party and the indigenous peoples. Although the indigenous peoples’ movement in CHT Bangladesh has been going on since the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971, unlike many other places of the world, it was a violent one. It was, however, not so different from other places in terms of its aim and objective i.e., the demand of autonomy or self -determination within the nation state system. It must be said that
primarily the movement was an ethno-political nature and not inclined with any ‘indigenous’
agenda we know it now. With a few exceptions, ample of literature depicted and analyzed the conflict in CHT as ethnic or ethno-political movement (Mohsin 2001, Gerharz 2004). Aimed at an autonomy within the Bangladesh state the Parbotta Chattogram Jana Shonhoti Somiti (PCJSS, shortly PSS)8 led the struggle from the beginning. One of the characteristic of the movement is that it tried to bring all the indigenous groups in CHT under an ‘invented’
symbolizing or naming of ethnic minority peoples of CHT. A historian and prominent
researcher on CHT, Schendel showed how concept of Jumma was ‘invented’ (Schendel 1992) by the JSS as a symbol to paint the solidarity of fractious small ethnic groups in the region.
JSS still uses the word to mean the non-Bengali hill peoples in CHT. In the 1997 Peace Treaty’ JSS came to an agreement with the government about some power sharing on the local level and left the violent path. Many of the agreements in the treaty are still a matter of negotiations and realization. Not all indigenous peoples in the area, however, agreed with the provisions of the treaty. It is widely known that there are groups (against the JSS) who reject the 1997 peace accord and are assumed to be active still in the deep forest with arms and ammunitions. Apart from this, it may be acknowledged that the current mainstream indigenous movement in the CHT is in line with advocacy and negotiations. A major development under the umbrella of the indigenous caravan in Bangladesh happened along with the gradual participation of indigenous leaders in the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at United Nations. Another development in the indigenous movement in Bangladesh, I should point, is undergoing by the current collaboration and associations of joint activities and
8 JSS lead the movement primarily non-violently, however, from mid 1970s, by discontent with the government
attitude it formed an armed wing that fought against the Bangladesh army until ‘peace accord’ was signed in 1997.
demand of the rights of the indigenous groups in the hilly CHT area and plain land of the country.
Along with the scholarly debate on the concept of indigenous in Bangladesh , let me now reflect on the pattern and meaning of the terms that are used in the popular and official (both public and private) sphere to naming or denote groups demanding indigenous status. I have already mentioned many of the terms both in Bengali and English that are used to identify peoples with an ethnic background other than Bengali, i. e., Upajati, Tribe, Ethnic minority, Ethnic communities, Pahari, Adibasi (Adivasi), indigenous etc. One of the official Bengali term upajati that lexically translates to the term ‘tribe’ is interesting if we break down the word - upa meaning ‘sub’ and jati means ‘nation’ – indicating people who are a sub- nation. Thus the term literally indicates a dissection among the citizen of the country, and its most frequent use in the official documents seems to be congruent with the attitude towards them. It is hard to identify when the term advasi is being used in Bangladesh for ‘tribal people’, however, it could be assumed from the roots of the word in Sanskrit that it is more contemporarily being used translating the term ‘indigenous peoples’. The civil society and other human rights organizations use these terms at large. Especially Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank in their operational policy guideline used the word ‘indigenous’
in lieu of ‘tribe’ of Bangladesh.
The academics, however, are divided on the applicability of ‘indigenous’ term to ethnic minority peoples of Bangladesh. Many of the past and contemporary academic works, grossly or partly, have bypassed the question of ‘indignity’ for the ethnic minority peoples in CHT. It is no wonder that ‘tribe’ has been used in 19th and 20th century scholarly and journalistic writings. Along with others it can be particularly be noted that the writings of one of the most renowned classical anthropologists, Levi-Strauss, who worked on kinships of peoples of CHT, used ‘tribe’ for the inhabitants of the place (Levi-Strauss 1952).
Contemporary writings have also used various terminologies backed by the tribalism discourse incepted by the colonial rulers. In the middle of the 1980s, scholars in Bangladesh Studies used ‘ethnic minority’ in the edited book ‘Tribal culture in Bangladesh (Qureshi 1984). In this book an articles by Islam indicates an early of academic interest on the
language issue of the indigenous peoples. Acknowledging that there are considerable debates on terminologies, researcher Uddin in his work on ‘Khumi’ of CHT preferred to use words like Pahari (hill people) than other terms like ‘Tribe’ or ‘Ethnic people’ since, according to him, ‘‘…they tend to be addressed by the term…’’ (Uddin 2008: 34). He also, however, declaratively used terms like ‘CHT people’ which clearly seems to have no notion of
indigenous. Anthropologist Dewan, Barrister Roy and some other scholars tend to use the word ‘Indigenous’ in most of their contemporary writing (Dewan 1993, 1991, Roy 2003). A Norwegian anthropologist Dr. Bleie used the term ‘tribe’ in the title of her book, but clearly she made an undertone of indigenous by using the term –‘Adivasi’. She also used ‘ethnic groups’ and apparently her usage of these terminologies had interchangeable meanings (Bleie 2005). Ball, in her remarkable work on the Garo community, discussed the issue extensively and indicated that terms ‘tribe, upajati, adivasi, and indigenous peoples’ reflect a relation with the problem of the people concerned, yet ‘‘…none of the generally accepted and/or applied terms suits social reality all too well’’(Bal 2007: 43).
Even though I agree with Bal, it should be noted that the categorization on whether it is popular, official or academic, naming the people has heavy influence. Pointing out that naming a minority group is hardly innocent, historian Niemi noted, ‘‘[o]n one hand they reflect attitudes towards the ethnic minorities, including prejudices, and on the other hand they function as legitimacy for certain chosen policy or even for ranking among the minorities (Niemi 2007: 22). From this perspective, naming ethnic minority people/’tribal’ people in Bangladesh as ‘indigenous’, in the light of history and on the basis of the working definition of UN and other international convention, is to be seen as an attempt to capture ‘social reality’
of groups of peoples who were marginalized by colonization and continue to be marginalized in the parochial nationalistic practices of post-colonialism as well. Having stating this, to me indigenous peoples in Bangladesh are those groups (Adibasi, Tribal, Pahari) who ethnically (especially in language and culture) differ from the dominant Bengali population and
inhabited the current state boundary before it was created. I would agree that no boundary or no naming, historically speaking, is permanent for the history of a people, yet for some, in some point of time, it is essential. Now, indigenous peoples across the world are asking and meeting that essential claim.
1.2 Nation-state, assimilation policy, education of indigenous peoples: Literature Review From a long view of human history, formations of states are fairly new (Perry 1996). Before the emergence of nationalism and nation-states, according to historian Anderson, world population was mainly divided into local communities, religious communities and dynastic realms. Dynastic rule eventually took on nationalistic feature in Western Europe in the middle of the 18th century (Anderson 1991). Anderson with several examples synthesizes how the genesis of national consciousness and the formation of nation states appeared in Europe with the advent of capitalism and print technology. His argument was that fatal diversity of human
language created the possibility of a new form of imagined community, the nation state (Anderson 1991). Of course there are many theories of formation and development of state or nation states across the world; it could be clearly distinguished with a cutting edge:
colonialism. Colonization of different parts of the globe by the major European states changed the course of human history. Colonization is particularly interlinked with the indigenous issues, as its very nature and scope, demanded a re-examination of the approaches and practices of post colonial state towards the ethnic minority who eventually became a part of the state. With the ‘post-colonial project of modernity’ in the nineteenth and twentieth century in different part of the world, nation builders constructed state boundaries, developed national narratives, interestingly borrowed from the colonial notions reflected especially in linguistic and ethnic nationalism.
One of the general tendencies of every nation state is to homogenize its population in terms of language and culture, impose the dominant language on the non-dominant people who speak in other language(s). In essence it seems as if, ‘‘…in order to form a nation or state you have to have a language’’ (Skutnabb-Kangas 2000:426). Consequence of such state intents is fatalistic for the language community. Dorian has discussed how the rise of nationalism in Western Europe at the beginning of the industrial age coincides to a
considerable extent with less tolerant attitude towards subordinate languages (Dorian 1989:
5). The process of the homogenization, commonly called assimilation, is the official policy for different nation-states at different time.
The question of why the state tried to assimilate indigenous peoples can be found in the nineteenth century pseudo-scientific theory of social evaluation or social Darwinism. The conception of bringing the indigenous tribal people from their ‘primitive state’ to the
‘civilized’ and modern is taken from the scientific theory of ‘race’, often described as social Darwinism or the theory of social evolution. Evolution of peoples and cultures were
interpreted as proving that different parts of the world were at different stages of their development. This was in short the basis of that theory, and it influenced most of the
academic and popular writings in the colonial age. It was used as a validation of colonial rule –that European are ‘racially superior’ to the subordinated people in the colony. It is
interesting to note that the same outlook exists in the post-colonial state. An anthropologist Appell asserts that indigenous people have been subjected and are being subjugated by the dominant elites in the new nation states and appropriation of their resources is justified under the banner of development and progress. He termed this process as decentralized colonialism (Appell 2002).
The main weapon used to implement the assimilation policy is education. According to Kukkonen, educational institutions played the central role in colonizing the mind of
indigenous peoples around the world (Kukkanen 2000). Plenty of literature vividly described how in many countries schooling has been the prime coercive instrument of cultural
modification and assimilation. For example, Dr. John H. Bodley, a well known cultural anthropologist, explained how under colonial conditions, schooling was often a direct means of cultural modification. By citing the Cunnison report, Bodley also showed how Sudanese tribal nomads who spent as little as two years in schools returned to their homes without the skills needed for a traditional way of livelihood. Again, by analyzing Bull’s work, Bodley identified how French colonial schools forbid native language and subjected children to be loyal to France (Bodley 1990:103). In an article historian Henry Minde has vigorously pointed out the process and consequences of Norwegian assimilation policy on Sami and Kven peoples of Norway. By concentrating on the education and language policy he
identified detrimental and painful experiences for the Sami children who underwent schooling during that policy period. In sum, he showed how the policy tried to destroy the language and culture of those peoples and weaken self-esteem and change identify and in this process how many of them underwent cultural pain and psychological trauma (Minde 2003).
Over a long history of assimilative policy in different states, there have been protests, and counter arguments started coming largely at the middle of twentieth century. There were two particular developments that happened in the two wings of the new world organization, the United Nations - one was ILO 107 within the International Labor Organization and the second was expert acknowledgement on the urgency of mother tongue education for children at UNESCO in 1951. They drew more attention to the indigenous and tribal peoples, and mother-tongue education was said to be the amenable medium of schooling children for small indigenous communities. By the middle of twentieth century, although formal colonialism ended in many parts of the world, indigenous people did not get genuine autonomy to determine their fate. It is often argued, even today, in the postcolonial time, ‘‘Indigenous people are targets of various forms of internal and neo-colonialism’’ (Kukkanen 2000: 413).
Thus indigenous peoples’ right of learning their own languages in school in a nation state is still a matter of debates and is denied in the most of cases.
In a study on the socio-economic and pedagogical implication of the multilingual policy of education in Ethiopia, Gebreyohannes (2005) shows that there exists a strong link between language, education and development. He found that the policy of multilingual education is poorly and inappropriately practiced, and its outcome could be a threat to national unity and
educational quality. In another study on the significance of culture in the classroom teaching and learning interaction for indigenous ethnic minority children, researcher Tshireletso (2000) contended that children of ethnic minorities are marginalized in classroom teaching-learning activities on the basis of exclusion of their culture, language and lifestyle. His study
recognizes the importance of mother tongue instruction for the children of Basarwa
indigenous ethnic minority groups as important to their classroom learning situation to make understanding and meaning of classroom talk closer to their life experiences, to preserve their languages as part of their cultural identities and to empower them from dominance and control of Tswana groups socially.
One of great dilemma in education for indigenous peoples is how to combine or
decouple the modernity with tradition. By studying a nomadic indigenous people ‘Evenks’ in Russia, Zhirkova (2006) revealed that ‘new ‘ nomadic schools is not only giving basic
education according to educational standards, but also provides indigenous knowledge and preserves the traditions in a modern environment. Stacy Churchill (1986) showed 6 stages outline which is most common policy responses to the educational and language needs of minority groups within the OECD. Although he suggested that differences between the stages are not always discrete, he attempts following ranking (in ascending order) by the degree to which such policies recognize and incorporate minority culture and languages:
Stage 1: “Assimilational” approach to education;
Stage 2: Modified form of assimilation where additional and supplementary programmes are promoted with emphasis adjusted to the majority society;
Stage 3: Multicultural education that recognizes the right to be different and respected for it, but not necessarily maintain a distinct language and culture;
Stage 4: The need for support of the minority language is accepted at least as a transitional measure. Accordingly, transitional bilingual education programmes are emphasized;
Stage 5: Recognize the rights of minorities to maintain and develop their languages and culture in private life to ensure these are not supplemented by the dominant culture and language;
Stage 6: The granting of full official status of the minority language (Churchill 1986, also cited in May 1999: 50).
To extend it into a broader purview for fitting in global parlance of policy response towards the indigenous language based education, following the basis of Churchill’s six stages, three
stages could be underscored: a) “Assimilational” b) Multi-cultural c) Right based official status.
Although a relatively nascent emergence, the Bengali nation-state seemed to resembled other western states in regards to following a nationalism project. It was not because this new
‘nation state’ had all prerequisites like those western nation-states that started emerging in the middle of 18th century, but because of its internal political situation and elites’ aspirations to create a similar historical backlash in the post-colonial and post-independent era of the country. A write up by historian Fazal argued that the narrative of triumphs of the West European nation-states colonialism and industrialization were enticing for the decolonized and peripheral states in non-Western world (Fazal 2000). It’s a paradox in Bangladesh that once ‘Bengali language’ was used ‘as a central symbol’ (Hossain and Tollefson 2006: 241) for the forming of a national consciousness, the ‘Bengali nationalism’, was slowly imposed on small ethnic minority indigenous peoples of the country after independence. The 1952 Language Movement opposed Pakistan government’s imposition of Urdu as a state language;
none opposed imposition of Bengali on the other ethno-linguistic groups within the national boundary. Surprisingly, key contemporary literature of or on indigenous peoples (tribal, ethnic minority) in Bangladesh has widely bypassed this issue of language imposition through schooling and assimilation. From literature, it appears that Bangladesh stands in need of refreshing its position towards the ‘indigenous’ concept under the international and nation law. It clearly showed that national monolingual education policy and practice has not been reconsidered against the reality of multilingual situation of Bangladesh
As noted earlier, the early writings on tribal/indigenous peoples are very much biased with the early 19the century Eurocentric view that depicted them as sub-human species or at least below the ‘standard’ of an educated modern individual. Abdus Sattar, once called
‘pioneer in social anthropology’ of East Bengal (Bal 2000), authored several books on the tribes of Bangladesh where a clear notion of the author could be traced that he saw these peoples as ‘primitive’. This outlook had led him to think that uplift of those people by means of education is essential because, ‘‘isolated and left behind, the tribe will become more
inward looking aggressive’’ (Sattar 1971, cited in Bal 2000:40). According to Bal, the idea of primitiveness of indigenous people in the common people mind is influenced by Sattar’s work. His comment on the Garo (Mandi) indigenous people that ‘‘many of them have received education and come into light of civilization’’ (Sattar 1971 cited in Bal 2000: 40).
However, Mohsin, perhaps most remarkable in criticizing government oppressive policies in hear several works, suggests in her article:
Non-Bengalis should be given the opportunity to pursue an education in their mother tongue through, at a minimum, the primary level. The government should make adequate funds available for both printing books in non-bengali languages and providing training to non- Bengali teachers. The country’s academic curriculum ought to be decentralized and democratized. […] The curriculum must reflect the different cultures, histories and
experiences that make up Bangladesh diverse minority communities. (Mohsin 2003 cited in Thompson 2007: 50)
On the contrary, a firm and lasting image of ‘tribal’ (upajati) image obsessed the common Bengali minds which I understand as a construction of colonialism. The philosophy of formal education, again as colonial construct, that the colonial rulers incepted in the Indian
subcontinent to utilize natives in the governance, and ‘civilize the tribal others’ so that they make less trouble in colonial resource accumulation, is still persist in the post-colonial state.
In a report of the clergy and human right activist, Timm (1991) showed how Bengalis see indigenous peoples in a culturally stereotyped way as ‘primitive’ or ‘jungly’. He also conceived that attempts to educate ‘adivasis’ in Bangladesh are seen by the authorities as bringing them into ‘the national mainstream’. Thus when education is considered as a mechanism of so-called development, usually it is devised under the umbrella of ‘national’
culture, the culture of dominant group(s) in the state system. As language is the basis of a culture, first dominant language reigns over other small languages. It becomes the language of school and often other voices are prohibited. Thus, small ethnic groups like indigenous
peoples sacrificed their language in school. Since language and identity of a people is deeply related, losing the former brings the disappearance of the latter. Indigenous peoples, the inheritors of long lasting tradition, are wiped out from the national scene, and the process starts in the classroom of modern monolingual schooling. On one hand, there is no
recognition of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh; thus the question of their education through their mother tongue has not been considered in any educational policy in Bangladesh. In CHT where the majority of indigenous populations in Bangladesh live has been disputed and an armed ethno-political movement had been continued from 1974 to 1997. With the Peace Accord, primary education sector in CHT transferred to the authority of Dill District Council, a semi-autonomous institution headed by an indigenous person. The accord also
acknowledged the mother tongue education for the primary stage. Although the treaty acknowledged these provisions, it regarded non-Bengali in the CHT as tribal.
The constitution does not recognize any indigenous peoples within Bangladesh territory and despite the fact that the mother tongue of many ‘tribal’ indigenous peoples is different from the dominant Bengali; from the beginning the education for all citizens in Bangladesh is
‘Bengali’, the state language. Like language, the curricula and pedagogy of schooling in public primary school is significantly non/under/ misrepresented by ethnic minority cultures.
Long standing pseudo-assimilation initiatives through education and language, I would argue, engendered their identity and existence as distinct peoples. Disempowerment, marginalization and extermination are some of subtle ways affecting indigenous peoples. Although no
government of Bangladesh upholds any manifested policy of ‘Bengalianization’9 like
‘Norwegianization’ that was taken by the Norway and last from about 1850 to approximately 1980, language policy in education resembles the process that excluded indigenous peoples’
rights to learn in their mother tongue and these reflected the ‘nationalism’ project in the long run.
The above reviews indicate that the initiative of assimilation of indigenous peoples by the nation-state is a global phenomenon, which I assume to be true in the case of nation-state Bangladesh. It is pertinent to state that parts of the global mobility of indigenous movement also influenced local indigenous movements. In Bangladesh case, the indigenous movement emerged in 1980 and was invigorated by the end of the 1990s. Today, along with many indigenous peoples in many other places in the world, indigenous peoples in Bangladesh are in a struggle to establish the right to learn in their mother tongue in school as a part of its overall demand for self-determination.
1.3 Purpose of the research: Scrutinize the medium of instruction in schooling As the literature review has shown, indigenous peoples in the nation state system often encounter assimilation policy especially through imposed language and culture in their schooling. From this perspective, I assume, Bangladesh is not to be regarded as an exception.
Since there is no study scrutinizing this aspect of the indigenous issue in Bangladesh, the problem of the study is to examine schooling practice regarding medium of instruction for indigenous peoples in CHT. Thus the objective of this research is to find out how and why schooling began and changed in terms of the medium of instruction in the indigenous communities of CHT and come towards mother-tongue based primary schooling.
9 See Barua2001
1.4 Research questions: Language in schooling
From the intentions stated in the objective of the research, three research questions were formulated:
1) How did elementary schooling begin and evolve in the indigenous communities of CHT, with what medium of instructions, and why?
2) To what extent is this schooling sensitive towards indigenous language and culture?
3) What are the prospects and challenges of mother-tongue-based primary schooling for the indigenous peoples in CHT?
Setting these questions in the research was more like a process of visiting and revisiting the literature. From the process, I got to know, as historian Perry noted, how finding the right questions can be as difficult as getting to answer them (Perry 1996). Apart from this difficulty, to me and maybe for many other researchers, from a philosophical point of view the answer of a question is a part of the question itself as it is influenced by it. Thus,
acknowledging the influence with a clear objective to know about the education situation, this study purposefully addresses those questions and seeks answers in the historical chronologies:
time, actor, and events - for schooling practices for the indigenous peoples in CHT, Bangladesh.
1.5 Methodology : A qualitative slot with indigenous paradigm
The history of the encounter between the researcher and indigenous peoples is long within social sciences especially in anthropology, sociology and history. There has been a long standing obsession of Western academia and journalism on exoticism that was gratified by research ventures on non-Western, particularly the indigenous peoples. Hence, indigenous peoples might be one of most researched human group. ‘‘We are the most researched people in the world’’ is a comment Linda Tuhiwai Smith has heard frequently from several different indigenous communities (Smith 2002: 3). Long tradition of research on indigenous people has now been criticized in the Said’s lines in Oriantalism (Said 1978), that shows Westerners look-upon non-western indigenous peoples as primitive. Orientalism was grossly used as a tool for validation of colonial rule over the globe. It now stands as a strong example of knowledge, knowledge production and its application related with power and manipulated by politics.
Against this Eurocentric approach, by which once these existing body of knowledge in social science was produced, many indigenous scholars suggested a paradigm shift - introduce and develop ‘the indigenous peoples’ project (Smith 2002), an indigenous methodology (Porsanger 2004), the ‘Indigenous paradigm’10 (Kuokkanen 2000). The basic tent on which these paradigms stand is, ‘‘we derive our epistemology from the very intellectual milieu that gave rise to colonialism...’’ (Perry 1996: 26) and that to counter this colonialism, insider (indigenous peoples’) engagement, views and interpretation is imperative for the research issues related with indigenous peoples. It asserts not to ignore the Eurocentric Western research methodology, as Porsanger noted, ‘‘…the indigenous approaches to research on indigenous issues are not meant to compete with, or replace, the Western research paradigm;
rather, to challenge it and contribute to the body of knowledge of indigenous peoples about themselves and for themselves (Porsanger 2004: 105). Acknowledging the value of the indigenous paradigm, indigenous peoples preference and world view, however, is the task of interpretation according to the ethics of social science, Saugestad reasserted, ‘‘remove the researcher, indigenous or not, from the object of study. And, insider’s perspective may at times oversimplify the complexity and pluralism of ethnic experiences in making its claim to authenticity and representatively (Saugestad 1998: 7). Transcending possible debate of
research on, with and by indigenous people and taking a deep look into the question of how to do research on indigenous peoples’ affairs, I took a methodological position that incorporates insights from these paradigms.
‘‘Methods can be sufficiently flexible to grow naturally from the research question, and in turn from the nature of the social setting in which the research is carried out’’ (Holliday 1994: 21). Thus to do research in or about indigenous peoples’ issues, as this thesis is all about, I ameliorate the indigenous methodology and had many insights applying in my study.
Given that I am a non-indigenous person (description given in the following), my
understanding is reflected in the research as the view of an ‘outsider’. I am also trained mostly in Eurocentric research techniques. As all the processes of the research has been done in corporation and consultation with various peoples both indigenous and non-indigenous, the methodological position is to be regarded as a unique one. Despite being a researcher mixing and balancing of both non-indigenous and indigenous perspective, I am at the end a non-
10 The term ’indigenous paradigm’ is used here with same meaning that Kuokkanen (2000) implied which is
connected to the deconstruction of the consequences of colonialism. For more detail, see his remarkable article titled: ‘Towards an ‘’indigenous Paradigm’’ from a Sami perspective’, where he put forward discussion on the need, significance, objective and characteristics of the paradigm.
indigenous person that made the decisions, which I should reiterate, with a sensitization of the indigenous people.
The study through its different stages followed a quantitative approach but it tried to take insights from indigenous paradigm. From planning to the data collection from the field, this project underwent several modifications. Salient modifications actually were done according to the suggestions I got at the proposal presentation and consultation meeting with both the fellow students at the University of Tromsø, Norway and colleagues at Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC, Bangladesh. Participants were in those meeting from
indigenous as well as non-indigenous background. So, as a part of the Masters Programme in Indigenous Studies at the University of Tromsø, the study’s approach has been influenced and shaped by my study and work experience, my supervisor’s suggestions, and my fellow
student and colleagues’ comments both from home and abroad.
1.5.1 Methods of data collection
Data has been collected from both field work and literatures. Empirical data was collected during two-month (June-July 2008) field work at CHT, Bangladesh. During the fieldwork, I went and stayed in an indigenous community in Khagrachari district at CHT where different types of elementary schools were attended by indigenous children. In the study area, on the basis of medium of instructions and curriculum, two types of schools were identified that operated separately with public and private support and administration. As a major source, data was collected from schools and on school-related issues, i.e., curriculum, pedagogy, textbooks, extra curricula, school administration and supervision. Along with this, data was also collected from teachers, parents, local social and political personalities.
Apart from empirical data, a good deal of data was collected from written sources both from national and international perspectives relating to assimilation and education policy. Due to personal crisis (mentioned in preface) during fieldwork, the data collection process had to be shortened. Thus, for substituting the gap, this study in many important places
predominantly depends on secondary sources. Hence this study used different methods in data collection under quantitative approaches. The following described how data collection
methods were used for collecting data both from the field and secondary sources.
Participant observation in schools: During my stay in the field, I visited 3 BRAC schools, one Zabarang school,one Para Kendro, one Anondo school and one Ahsania Mission supported school and a government primary school. Except for the government school, which
was for primary (Grade I-V), all other schools were pre-primary (one year course, below G-I).
Although I collected data from all other schools from school visits, I did my participant observation only in BRAC pre-primary schools as it was more accessible for me because of my professional affiliation with the organization.
In depth-interview: As key informants, I interviewed some indigenous and non- indigenous persons i.e., leaders, experts, administrators, activists, and teachers of the community.
Document analysis: As written sources, data was collected from tribal cultural institutes, libraries, NGO school project documents, the Ministry on CHT affairs and Ministry of
Education, and the Government of Bangladesh (GoB). Additionally, other secondary sources like published journals, academic theses and photographs were collected from internet.
1.5.2 Time and places: The important tasks
According to the plan and schedule, I went to Bangladesh for fieldwork. During June-August 2008, the empirical data for this study was collected from the Dhighinala Upazila of
Khagrachari district in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is my home country but the place Dhighinala, Khagrachri, from where empirical data was collected, was not known to me. Before this fieldwork visit, I visited the region for a few days about 3 years ago, but not the community from where data was collected. Let me elaborate more about how that place was selected for data collection for this research.
From the beginning I was looking for a place in Bangladesh where more than two organizations are operating education mother-tongue based programmes for the indigenous children. At first, having got some primary information from BRAC education programme at BRAC Head Office at Dhaka I thought of Khagrachari as the most probable site for
fieldwork. In fact, besides Zabarang, a local NGO in CHT, BRAC Education programme (BEP) had been piloting a bi-lingual education programme in Khagrachai, Dhighinala Upazila. So, having some background information and according to my primary intention, I visited Dhighinal. I found that there along with two organizations namely BRAC and Zabarang, there are a few other organizations that were working on education but not in the mother-tongue of indigenous peoples. Gradually, I found that it would be interesting to draw some key information of all different type of schools in that indigenous prone locality and if they had any particular educational goals for indigenous (and non indigenous children) before finally deciding to enter the field. I start visiting different types of schools and finally chose
the place for the study. In the following days I purposively selected a bi-lingual school run by BRAC for collecting in-depth information. In the following section on the location of the study, the site is further analyzed.
1.5.3 Overcoming objectivity: The way I was looking for data
I was looking for data that could help me answer the research delineated questions. I presupposed that I should not be in a rush for data, but that data will come to me in a flow within context and situation. In this venture, I spent a lot of time with the informants in the interviews and observation, and in most of the cases in a very informal way. Primarily, I tried to have some background information of the place, people, culture, languages and the
organizations and institutions of the field site. According to the project proposal, I was looking for capturing qualitative data, data that was comprised of words and voices of the people. My previous studies in indigenous studies and training in qualitative research methodology helped me to be alert in choosing informants, to interact with them with research ethics and to get reliable information. I wanted to know the people whom I met in different areas in the field and had good rapport with them by applying commonsense. During my whole stay and interaction with them, many of them expressed inquisitiveness about me and my work too.
I tried to stay more or less informal in all stages during my data collection whether it was an interview or participant observation. Though I knew that my informality would affect the scene too, I preferred it to being formal for some cases. As in the process of the data collation in the field, my own presence was an artificial interference; so, I was expecting the data to be less artificial, less affected by my alien posture if it was always informal. Thus, although I was not quite sure if informality ever ascertains artificiality, it just came out of my mind in the field to follow this practice. In the process of the data collation in the field, however, I should agree that my own presence was an artificial interference in many instances. At the same time, I was also trying to collect data, setting myself in a neutral position. Again, I was aware that pure neutrality in data collection was impossible. Apart from this, in most of the cases I wanted to keep ‘natural’ atmospheres through my gestures, body language and my dress. Whenever I visited a school, was a guest in household or visited a person for an interview, I tried to be a polite, friendly and ‘non-threatening’ person. It is true that I tried to be friendly and polite not only just to develop formal rapport (in the sense of social science jargon) but to overcome the barrier of my dominant ethnic identity.
